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The AT&T 3G MicroCell Owner's Thread

I just got my MicroCell. Even though I had signed up to be notified via email when it was released in my area, I learned at the store that it had already been out for a month, and they had sold about 100 of them so far.

With all the tree cover around my house, I am expecting to have GPS provisioning issues. So far, about 45 minutes into the process, it is just chugging along as it is supposed to.

If this works as it is supposed to, I will be one very happy camper.
 
Anyone have any information on the internals inside the device? How'd the portscan go with finding anything other then port 22 open?

Has anyone done a packetsniff on the bootup process over ethernet?

Anyone willing to sell their's to me?
 
As I suspected, getting the MicroCell up and running was a bit of a challenge. It took a couple calls to AT&T CS to get it done. First, I couldn't get a GPS lock. A call to CS got that fixed. Then my wife's phone wasn't being acknowledged by the MicroCell. That problem was with the MC web site getting stuck on a failed activation, so the MC couldn't pull registration data from the web.

Now everything seems to be running just fine, and we are very pleased.

I have to say ATT support was incredibly helpful and responsive. They called me back twice to report progress.

I think ATT is smart to roll this out. Right now, the MicroCell takes a lot of hand-holding to get up and running.
 
40% of incoming calls are missed on Microcell

We thought we were missing some incoming calls when we were home with the Microcell. We logged into the ATT Wireless Microcell forum and found other customers with the same problem - having incoming calls go straight to voicemail without ringing the phone. So we just did some tests...

Called 5 times from the landline to a mobile registered to the Microcell, that was in the same room. 2 of the 5 calls went straight to voicemail without ringing the phone. That's not good.

So for now, we're disconnecting the Microcell until there's a known fix.

:(
 
gadgetinspector said:
We thought we were missing some incoming calls when we were home with the Microcell. We logged into the ATT Wireless Microcell forum and found other customers with the same problem - having incoming calls go straight to voicemail without ringing the phone. So we just did some tests...

Called 5 times from the landline to a mobile registered to the Microcell, that was in the same room. 2 of the 5 calls went straight to voicemail without ringing the phone. That's not good.

So for now, we're disconnecting the Microcell until there's a known fix.

:(
Click to expand...

Maybe I am just lucky, but I have not experienced this. I have done a lot of work to make sure that both my iPhones are current with network updates and both required new SIM cards.

It has been working 100% reliably for me since mid-December.

I did find out that every 2-3 days I need to power on/off the Microcell unit to make sure that my phones are connected, but I know when to do this by not being able to get the "M-Cell" indicator to display at home.

This only happens when I leave M-Cell range and then try to come back (i.e. leave the house or go to the one room where I cannot get signal.)

Perhaps that is how frequently they are pushing updates to the Microcell.

-Benster
 
Benster said:
Maybe I am just lucky, but I have not experienced this. I have done a lot of work to make sure that both my iPhones are current with network updates and both required new SIM cards.

It has been working 100% reliably for me since mid-December.
Click to expand...

Out of curiosity, have you explicitly tested incoming calls? Or just assume you have not missed any because you haven't had callers complain or seen new voicemails mysteriously pop up without a ring?

If you have a moment, it would be interesting and likely very helpful to this group if you (and other Microcell owners) could do some quick tests by calling your mobile phone actively connected to the Microcell. If you are able to receive 5-10 calls to your mobile phone in a row, and the mobile phone rings each time, that would be seem reliable. If you have any calls go directly to voicemail, without the mobile phone ringing, that would be a good datapoint to see how wide spread this problem is - if at all.
 
gadgetinspector said:
Out of curiosity, have you explicitly tested incoming calls? Or just assume you have not missed any because you haven't had callers complain or seen new voicemails mysteriously pop up without a ring?

If you have a moment, it would be interesting and likely very helpful to this group if you (and other Microcell owners) could do some quick tests by calling your mobile phone actively connected to the Microcell. If you are able to receive 5-10 calls to your mobile phone in a row, and the mobile phone rings each time, that would be seem reliable. If you have any calls go directly to voicemail, without the mobile phone ringing, that would be a good datapoint to see how wide spread this problem is - if at all.
Click to expand...

I'll be happy to test this at home later this evening and post my findings. I'm pretty sure that they will be consistent because neither my wife or my iPhones have received "phantom voicemails" at home since getting the microcell.

I have probably close to 3000 minutes both incoming and outgoing since 11/21 when I got it.

Will be happy to try it and let you know. I'll make sure I space the calls out 30 seconds to a minute because there may be some "ring lag" where the call might be over, but the network thinks the call is still active, thus forwarding to voice mail.

-Benster
 
gadgetinspector said:
Out of curiosity, have you explicitly tested incoming calls? Or just assume you have not missed any because you haven't had callers complain or seen new voicemails mysteriously pop up without a ring?

If you have a moment, it would be interesting and likely very helpful to this group if you (and other Microcell owners) could do some quick tests by calling your mobile phone actively connected to the Microcell. If you are able to receive 5-10 calls to your mobile phone in a row, and the mobile phone rings each time, that would be seem reliable. If you have any calls go directly to voicemail, without the mobile phone ringing, that would be a good datapoint to see how wide spread this problem is - if at all.
Click to expand...

I tested this extensively this evening and every call went through to my phone and my wife's phone without incident. I haven't seen any evidence of calls going directly to email.
 
Maui19 said:
I tested this extensively this evening and every call went through to my phone and my wife's phone without incident. I haven't seen any evidence of calls going directly to email.
Click to expand...

I saw the exact same results. I made 20 calls in a 5 minute period, 10 to my phone, 10 to my wife's alternating each time.

All calls rang to the iPhone through the Microcell.

I do have AT&T Uverse as my ISP, so I would hope my setup would be optimal for making it work.

Maybe there is a latency issue with some ISP providers and AT&T has a certain "ping time" where if it cannot reach your microcell if your phone is not on the "regular network" then it just forwards to voicemail as a fallback.

I do not do a lot of torrent downloading or high bandwidth usage type activites (other than watching TV or DVR) so maybe that may be a factor for folks that are seeing the issue.

I will also strongly suggest calling the AT&T Microcell help line and specifically asking them to put in an order for a replacement SIM card. You should be able to then pick it up at any AT&T store. That seemed to make all the difference for me. My service went from "flakey at best" to completely reliable after getting a new SIM card and having the iPhone download the latest network updates.

-Benster
 
I'm also wondering about the national rollout.

My home office is located in the basement. I have full signal and 3G on the main level and 2nd level. In the basement, I go between 1-2 bars and No Signal depending on what area of the basement I'm in. I've had to just forward my cell to my home when I'm working (which is fine unless my home voice mail picks up) but the MicroCell would be a great solution.

...Kind of annoyed at the price since, like others have said, paying for something that I already pay for is stupid, but I'll pay for 5 bars!
 
Entertainment72 said:
I guess I don't get it.. pay At&t more money for something you should receive anyways.. :rolleyes:
Click to expand...
i'm with you. it seems like a worthless piece of equipment to me.
pcguru83 said:
I don't get why people don't get it. ;)

Sure, it'd be great if AT&Ts coverage was better, no question about that. But it's not, so because of that I had a landline (via Vonage) and two cellphones (mine and my wife's iPhones via AT$T). We were/are paying about $35 after taxes for our Vonage service. For the same service as Vonage, AT&T is now only charging me $20. Why would I not want to do that? And I'm consolidating down to two phones as opposed to three!

And people are missing the point on the actual technology. How cool is it that we can start a call on our cellphone and have it directed through the Internet as a VOIP call, then walk out our door and have it seamlessly handed off to an actual cell tower? That is incredibly cool. POTS lines are going away, and I really believe it's this kind of tech that is going to facilitate that complete transition away from POTS lines. Its effectively VOIP for $20/month, but people aren't seeing it that way since their so blinded with their hate of AT&T. I'm not the biggest fan of AT&T either and have seriously considered switching several times. They're policies on data and text messages (i.e. SlingPlayer) are absurd IMO. But this is a GOOD THING they are doing here, so let's not look a gift horse in the mouth.
Click to expand...
i guess what i don't get is why people are still using land lines in 2010...
if it's coverage issues people are having, at&t needs to address that, not introducing some new device that boosts signal strength in your house only.

condensing from 3 phones down to 2? really? what does a home phone line offer that one cell phone doesn't already provide? (except the convenience of having an extra number to direct unwanted calls to ;))

i don't mean to sound negative; i genuinely don't understand the point of this technology, and i would like to. i must be ignorant of something.
 
Maui19 said:
I just got my MicroCell. Even though I had signed up to be notified via email when it was released in my area, I learned at the store that it had already been out for a month, and they had sold about 100 of them so far.
Click to expand...
Just had the same experience. Never got an email saying it was available. Got a postcard in the mail telling me they were at the store. Got there and they only had 3 left, so luckily I got one.
 
Maui19 said:
Then my wife's phone wasn't being acknowledged by the MicroCell. That problem was with the MC web site getting stuck on a failed activation, so the MC couldn't pull registration data from the web.

Now everything seems to be running just fine, and we are very pleased.
Click to expand...
I'm having the same issue with my phone picking up the microcell great, but my wife's isn't. How did you resolve the issue?
 
jacksonian said:
I'm having the same issue with my phone picking up the microcell great, but my wife's isn't. How did you resolve the issue?
Click to expand...
I'll answer my own question. I had to call support. The rep said none of the other numbers on my Microcell approved list had populated. So she deleted my wife's # and added it back and then all my #'s from the website populated. So we're all good. Five bars all over the house.
 
AT&T should pay you for this, you are taking your traffic off thier network and piping it down the Internet connection you pay for. You're doing them a solid by using this device, not the other way around.
 
TurdFerguson said:
AT&T should pay you for this, you are taking your traffic off thier network and piping it down the Internet connection you pay for. You're doing them a solid by using this device, not the other way around.
Click to expand...
I'm not happy about having to buy the Microcell. However, I've heard the argument you're making quite often. In my situation, I'm not taking any traffic off their network because I wasn't getting a signal at my house, so I wasn't creating any traffic. So I get your point, but I think most people buying these are not unloading any traffic.

Now, Microcells or something like them being used in public places like hotels or malls or better yet college dorms, now THAT would unload traffic from the system.
 
That's true but they are still charging you because of gaps in thier coverage. Also they are taking your minutes for phone calls that are not even going through thier network.
 
I understand them charging you to purchase the device itself. But chargeing you per month or taking minutes from your account? Better lube up, here comes mama Bell & AT&T!
 
TurdFerguson said:
That's true but they are still charging you because of gaps in thier coverage. Also they are taking your minutes for phone calls that are not even going through thier network.
Click to expand...
I don't necessarily disagree with those statements. Although my house seems to be its own dead zone. I get 5 bars in my driveway, so there's something about the house construction that seems to keep the signal out. But they shouldn't take my minutes, you're right.
 
Also as long as you have a wifi enabled phone, why do you need one of these? You should be able to accomplish this with software only over wifi.
 
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